יְרֵמַי (ye.re.may)
ye.re.may
Jeremai
N:N-M-PQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- N:N-M-P
Word Overview
The name Yeremai appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, recorded in Ezra 10:33 among the list of Israelite men who had married foreign women during the post-exilic restoration. It identifies a specific individual, described as a descendant of Hashum, who was required to divorce his wife as part of the community’s effort to maintain religious distinctiveness.
Etymologically, the name likely means "his exaltations" or "my heights," derived from roots associated with lifting up. While the personal significance of this meaning is lost in the text, the name serves as a historical marker for one of many families navigating the complex social and spiritual challenges of rebuilding life in Jerusalem.
This single mention highlights the meticulous record-keeping of the Ezra narrative, which lists hundreds of names to document the community’s identity. Yeremai’s story is not one of individual agency but of collective obedience, illustrating how personal relationships were subordinated to the broader covenantal reforms of the era.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The name Jeremai appears only once in Scripture, buried in a long list of names in Ezra 10. That single mention might seem easy to skip, but it represents a real person living through one of Israel's most fragile moments—returning from exile and trying to rebuild a faithful community. When the people discovered that some, including Jeremai, had married outside the covenant, they faced painful decisions. His name in that list tells us he took part in a collective act of repentance, choosing the hard path of obedience alongside hundreds of others.
His name likely means “his exaltations” or “my heights,” a quiet reminder that even when we lower ourselves in repentance, God is at work to lift us up. You may feel your own life is just one name in a long list, unnoticed and ordinary. Yet the same God who preserved Jeremai’s name in the sacred record knows yours and invites you to faithful steps, however hidden. Nothing done in sincere obedience is ever lost from His sight.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- Jeremai1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- יְרֵמַ֥י1×
Key Verses
-
Ezra 10:33
Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.
Jeremai is named among the descendants of Hashum who had married foreign women, marking his participation in the communal act of covenant renewal through the dissolution of those marriages.